Wayne Rooney re-wrote the
history books to become England's youngest scorer as Sven-Göran
Eriksson's side came from behind to win the crucial Euro 2004
qualifier in Macedonia. England were in desperate need of
inspiration after former Barnsley striker Georgi Hristov punished a
woeful first-half display to give Macedonia a deserved lead.
But Everton's Rooney equalised early in the second half - and
captain David Beckham kept alive England's hopes of automatic
qualification for next summer's finals with the winner from the
penalty spot. It was a night of glory for Rooney, who opened
his England account at the tender age of 17 years and 317 days to
beat Michael Owen's record. England coach Eriksson also
deserves credit for a bold attacking formation in the second half -
but once again he will be concerned by a dreadful defensive display.

England's seventh straight win,
which equalled their post-war record, was marred by incidents off
the pitch as well as racist chanting from the crowd in Skopje.
Beckham was, as expected, declared fit after a minor groin strain
and Rooney partnered Owen in attack. Macedonia were in
uncompromising mood and emphasised the fact with a series of early
tackles which saw Ilco Naumoski booked for foul on Nicky Butt in the
opening seconds.

And England had a narrow escape
after 12 minutes when Lampard conceded possession
and Macedonia
captain Artim Shakjiri was harshly adjudged offside when he was clean
through on goal. But England failed to heed the warning signs
and Macedonia deservedly took the lead in the 26th minute. It
was a catalogue of defensive disaster for England, with Gary Neville
starting the rot by playing Macedonia onside. And when Vlatko
Grozdanovski's cross was hopelessly misjudged by Sol Campbell,
Hristov was on hand to score after Goran Pandev's shot was blocked.
England were unable to establish any sort of foothold, with
attacking opportunities virtually non-existent.

It had been a desperate opening 45
minutes - and Eriksson made a vital change at the interval.
Heskey replaced Lampard as Eriksson went for a three-pronged strike
force. And it was rewarded almost instantly when Heskey nodded
down Beckham's pass for Rooney to beat Milosevski from 20 yards.
And the game was turned around completely on the hour when England
went ahead. John Terry was floored by Macedonia substitute
Braga and Beckham scored expertly from the spot. Braga almost
made amends with 20 minutes left when he cut inside the struggling
Ashley Cole, but saw his shot deflected on to the top of the net by
Campbell.